Fault Line
by Letters to Charlie
Summary: Short story about Adam before his abduction. May be expanded upon.


_Fault Line_

"God damn it, Adam, don't you dare walk out that door!" I heard her scream from behind me. With vigor I clutched the doorknob to my front door and swung it open before continuing to walk out of my place.

I immediately reached for a cigarette and lit up in a haze as I hastily moved down the stairs and out of my apartment building. The front door of the complex, after my rather violent kick to open it, remained open and I, too careless to mind, sustained walking down the street. It was a dirty and decrepit building I lived in. The hallways had curious stains on their sides and not much worked inside the rooms. I was lucky to get a shower, let alone one with lukewarm water.

It was a sunny day, what else was new? I had moved to the city of continual fucking sunshine. Maybe I should have moved somewhere to better match my moods, someplace like Seattle where it actually rained, not this constant sun and one hundred degree weather. I stopped to wait for the walk sign at an intersection, taking a long drag before exhaling in a cloud of smoke.

Like the lack of clarity of the smoke offered, my thoughts drifted lazily from my current surroundings to my previous one. Her name was Liv, and if you tried to call her by her full name Olivia, you were in for a good thrashing. Liv was a lot of things, a lot of labels. While she did not approve of labels, most people would call her an extremist. She became a vegan at the age of thirteen, at fifteen dyed her hair blue, and by seventeen had moved out of her parents' place. She had studied women's rights and all that feminist shit I'd never understand, nor could I say I really wanted to.

I found myself attracted to Liv in the first place because of her individuality. Well, and because she had a smoke for me to bum off of her. We were both sitting in a bar, a no smoking establishment, like every other building in this God damn city, when she lit up right in front of the bartender after his warning. After she was told to get out, I left too. She was standing by a crosswalk not too far away, and once I asked her for the smoke, the deal was sealed.

There were lots of little things I loved about Liv, like the fact she could keep up with me when I was drinking, and she could actually hold her alcohol. She could smoke up a storm and stay up with me till the early hours of the morning came calling. Then there was her hair, which always smelled amazing, but it was a scent I couldn't place. She also had this one face, a face I could never get tired of. I saw it late at night, a come hither to bed type of look.

But then again, we fought all the time. She was always accusing me of being unfaithful, which was total bullshit. She also thought I was too angry; like she could talk. Sure, she could be all lovey dovey and shit, but she had these huge fucking mood swings that came out of nowhere and all of a sudden she'd be screaming, and occasionally hitting, at me because I had simply stated I'd take the trash out later.

We had lived together for five of the eight months we had known each other. Neither of us completely thought any plan out, and this one was a disaster from day one. You try living with a feminist vegan punk and let me know how you do. We had both thrown in the towel many times; somehow she always wormed her way back into my place. Actually, her help with the payments became the only reason I could afford to keep it anymore.

In all honestly, some part of me wanted Liv around no matter what, because besides her I was mostly alone. I had a couple of drinking buddies but none of them could be called substantial friends. I was no longer in touch with my family; my parents' relationship had been on the rocks since before I could remember, and my link to them was already severed from the beginning. I had only one sibling, a little sister, and she had unfortunately somewhat followed my footsteps already by taking off by herself to the city. She was a painter, struggling to pay the bills, and like me, had few connections. All the same, I hardly talked to her anymore either.

Neither Liv nor I kept photos of family around. She did not want to be reminded of hers at all, but I could not claim to that. I'd never admit it out loud, but I missed my mom. Not because we had ever been especially close, but because I imagine everything our relationship should have been. Just thinking about what a mom could have meant. Inside I was full of dull lullabies and empty promises, and so with all the pictures I took and had scattered around my apartment, I could never say, 'Yeah, that's my dad with my mom last Christmas,' or 'That's my sister and her new boyfriend.'

I saw the green flash of the walk signal, and along the side of a few other individuals I walked across the street. Despite being so sunny out, there were parts of town that always seemed shady, this being one of them. Despite myself I found the area increasingly more intimidating. Ever get the feeling you're being watched? Lately I had been jumpy at the proposition of such an occurrence. Ironic for a guy who follows people around to take pictures of them for as a job, I know. Still, I had some inquiries because apparently there had been an old man asking around about me. Joel, the bartender who had told me this, said I shouldn't be worried. What could an old man do?

Unbeknownst to me then, I was about to find out just how much one old man could do.

A/N: This was originally meant to be told in about three chapters, but I may or may not continue this depending on responses and my personal time. Originally it was meant to include employment by Tapp and tailing Dr. Gordon and end with the abduction.


End file.
